That's one complex coop design, I bet the chickens will surely be happy in that setting. Good luck with that.!!Now that my coop is almost done, I'm starting to plan out the run. I'm creating a separate thread for the run so it doesn't get lost in the coop build thread (which you can see here).
I've been designing and redesigning this since last summer. The space I have is an irregular shape, which makes this tricky. There are trees and bushes in the way, and a raised garden bed. I want to give the chickens the maximum area I can though, and an irregular run is the only way to do that.
This will probably be long and I'll have lots of questions, so bear with me, I need to think this through. I appreciate any feedback!
So, here are my latest plans (standard map orientation, so the top is north):
View attachment 2026597
The run needs to go around the little tree that's next to the coop. That's a linden tree so it will get big, and I want to leave it enough room (it's very young right now). The whole area will have a sloped roof, sloping south to north, so towards the property line. The 3'x5' section of the run that's attached to the coop will have a lower roof - about 5' tall, just enough for me to walk under - to leave room for the linden tree's branches. The main section, the 11'x11', will be taller, sloping down from 8' in the front to about 5.5' in the back. I'm treating the 3'x5' and the 11'x11' sections as two structures with two separate roofs, just to get two regular shapes that are easier to work with, and then I'll have to connect them somehow (more drawings and questions on that later).
The original soil on our property was heavily contaminated with lead, so we had everything covered with several inches of clean fill after we moved in. So the surface is fine, but I don't want to dig. Which means no footing holes for the run structure. I want to lay down landscape timbers along the whole perimeter and use them as the bottom of the run frame. So the vertical supports attach to the landscape timbers at the bottom. Would that work? Any advice, best practices or red flags?
The fencing material will be wrought iron mesh panels, which I got for free from a former chicken owner neighbor. They are about 3'x4' and I have 28 of them, enough to cover the whole run (with some HC patching for the irregular-shaped areas). The mesh holes are 2"x2". A bit big, but that's what I have. The coop door will be closed at night, and our worst enemies here are large, so I hope that's enough. I'll also have a denser HC apron along the ground and going up a foot or two along the fence. The panels look like this:
View attachment 2026600
The walls: the iron panels will stack on top of each other, two tall, standing on their short sides for the taller south wall (so 8 feet tall total), and on their short sides for the north wall, so a little under 6 feet tall. They are solid and very heavy. If the horizontal top beam of the run frame is resting on the top edges of the iron panels, can I count on them for support and use 2x4's for both the vertical supports and the top horizontal supports of the run frame? Or will I still need 4x4's? Or a combination of the two? How far apart should the vertical supports be?
The roof will be partially covered year-round, with clear polycarbonate panels, so the chickens always have a dry outside area. The rest will have a welded wire mesh on top for protection (probably 2"x4" for cost purposes). I will only cover that part with polycarbonate in the winter, to keep the snow out of the run. The reason for that is because I have trees and shrubs either inside or immediately next to the run, and don't want to cut off their water supply during the growing season. I also want some rain water to get in there for the sake of composting the organic matter on the floor somewhat. The clear panels will allow light to still go through. The tree marked "HUGE TREE" on the right is a giant maple that shades everything, so I don't need additional shade, but rather, more light. As for snow load, I don't really know what to plan for anymore. This used to be snow country, but snow is actually rare nowadays. Every few years we'll get a giant snowstorm with deep snow, but most years there's barely enough for a snowman.
Now, questions about the roof:
▪ Will 2x6's be enough for the roof rafters? Will the fact that the roof will be resting on the iron panels all the way along the south and the north wall help distribute the load?
▪ If the rafters are 11+ feet long, will I need additional vertical supports somewhere in the middle of the run? Or will the rafters be enough?
▪ How far apart should the rafters be?
▪ The polycarbonate panels are only 2' wide, so I assume I'll need purlins as well, unless the rafters are 2' apart (which seems excessive to me...but maybe not?) What size wood do I need for the purlins? Will wall studs be enough? (1x2 or 1x3)
▪ How much of the roof can I get away with covering permanently without killing the bush inside the run and negatively affecting the linden tree? (the bush is a forsythia, so it's hardy, and rainwater will run off the roof and down directly behind the bush and hopefully water it, but still).
Thank you to whoever survived until the end of this giant post, and thank you for any feedback!
I used 2 x 4's for the rafters in my run on 24 inch centers. They do have cross beams for extra support. The roof of my run is primarily corrugated aluminum and it has held up quite well these past 2 winters. The slope helps to let the snow and rain run off. I see a concern with using chicken wire at the bottom of the run. Mice can easily get through that and anytime there is chicken food on the ground it will attract mice and rats. Also, groundhogs can easily burrow right through it. It has happened to my garden when I used chicken wire at the bottom of my raised garden beds.
Might depend on the span and the other framing supporting it.
My span is only 8 feet. With an 11 foot span, definitely would recommend vertical supports in the middle. It's been a while since towns inside 495 have got 2 feet of snow at once, but it has happened and likely will again.
I did see that regarding the vertical supports. If it were me, I would go with 3 or 4 vertical supports with cross beam on top of those to support the rafters.
Thanks! What size wood would you use for the cross beam?
Oh this is a nice visualization, thanks! Useful with the names, too. The top one has almost the same span as mine and no vertical supports in the middle... hmmm....
